There are enough tragic dates in the history of different states: the great peasant uprising of 1381 in England is one of such terrible and sad episodes. This popular revolt took place against the backdrop of other terrible events, which were so rich in the medieval life of Europe. We are talking about the outbreak of the pandemic of the bubonic plague and a series of military conflicts with a total length of 116 years, better known as the Hundred Years War. The uprising of Wat Tyler in England had its premises because of a number of unresolved issues in the socio-economic sphere of life in English society. So, about all this in order.
The plague of 1348 and 1349 in England
In history, the European pandemic of the plague, or "black death," left an indelible mark. The living conditions of the ancestors of modern Europeans, not even observing basic hygiene standards and throwing their sewage from houses onto the heads of passers-by, were terrible.
In the east of England, windows facing London are still bricked up - the consequences of a sustained popular memory of this event. Modern excavations of one of the plague cemeteries of the time under the Royal Mint in London showed that about 12,000 people died and were buried from the "black death". According to historians, in all, from that time, approximately forty to one hundred thousand people lived in London.
Hundred Years War and its Impact on the Common Man
Another disaster, which fell a heavy burden on the whole of English society, was the claim of the British royal Plantagenet dynasty to the French crown. The so-called Carolingian War (from 1369 to 1396) was just going on - one of the periods of the Hundred Years War, which dragged on for 116 years.
The English army was hopelessly stuck on the continent, losing its people and resources. According to the good old tradition, the powers of this world place the brunt of this situation on their taxpayers. An interesting feature of the new tax rate was that the British government introduced it based on the old census data carried out before the pandemic. And since the population has declined significantly, the poll tax has become an unbearable burden for most people.
King Richard II
The uprising of Wat Tyler in 1381 was a dramatic attempt to break down an unjust feudal system. To understand this key point, it is necessary to consider what constituted royal power in those days.
A few years before the events described, King Edward III (1327–1377) dies. His eldest son, Edward, better known in historiography as the "Black Prince", did not rule for long. After death, the throne of England went to his son Richard II, who at that time was only 10 years old.
This circumstance caused a confrontation both within the royal family and among the disunited nobility. The real power in the state at that time belonged to the Royal Council. In addition, starting from the 13th century, there was a parliament consisting of two chambers: the House of Peers and the House of Commons. Representatives of the upper class were in the house of peers, and representatives of all classes were in the lower. This division has survived to the present day.
Even under Edward III, there were several rights that the monarch had to reckon with:
- Parliament allocated funding for the war.
- Laws are issued only with the consent of two chambers.
- The royal advisers were accountable to parliament, which had the right to even judge them.
Even before the uprising led by Wat Tyler, the government had to solve the problem of financing a protracted and hopeless war with France.
Poll tax
In 1379, a law was introduced on the poll tax, which every Englishman over 15 years of age fell under. He had to pay 1 shilling to the treasury. However, even without this extortion of extortion, the position of ordinary people was unenviable.
The development of the monetary economy decomposed the English serfdom. The corvee was gradually replaced by cash rent. Lords have become more profitable to cultivate the land with the help of cheap hired power. Moreover, as early as 1349, King Edward III ordered all poor people of both sexes, aged 12 to 60 years, to be hired for the fee that was before the plague.
And if the employer paid more, then he, like the employee who received a more decent payment for his work, was fined. If the employee did not agree to work for the rates established by the radiant person, or voluntarily left the workplace before the expiration of the contract, then he was awaited by a prison and a stigma that was set with a red-hot iron.
Even before the Wat Tyler uprising in England, passion in society was gradually heating up. Because you couldn’t even die for free. In any situation, the peasant paid the landowner, and in this particular case, the priest.
John Ball
However, not all clergy have become an obedient instrument serving the powers that be. One of those who saw this social inequality was John Ball, a non-ward priest. The Archbishop of Canterbury forbade him to preach, but this did not break the courageous, just person. He continued to remain faithful to the ideas of the Lollards (a Christian community fighting for a fairer social order in medieval Europe). He joined the uprising of Wat Tyler in 1381. And before that, he was persecuted and even imprisoned. Throughout the 60-70s, he went to jail repeatedly.
At the time of the uprising, he was in Madston prison. He was sent there by the Archbishop of Canterbury for radical preaching.
The beginning of the uprising
Reason for rebellion was quickly found. The actions of the royal representative, John Bampton, not only stirred up the city of Brentwood, but also the entire southeast of the country. The composition of the protesters was quite variegated. It was attended not only by peasants, but also by artisans, as well as small officials.
Tax collectors were destroyed, court records were burned, and prisoners were released by assault. The English army, sent to pacify the rebellion, was simply shot from bows - the peasants' favorite weapon.
Walter Tyler stood at the head of the spontaneous populace. He, an ordinary roofer from Kent, had already had a sip of dashing in the Hundred Years War, therefore, what the English army is capable of, an experienced veteran perfectly represented.
Who had the rebellion on hand
But if one is completely objective, then one cannot consider this popular unrest as a purely struggle of the oppressed with their exploiters. As expected in such cases, some used popular anger in their personal mercantile interests. We are talking about representatives of the English merchants. Under the distribution were the shops of merchants from Flanders - the main competitors, because of which the British suffered heavy losses.
The reasons for the Wat Tyler uprising, which forced the most economically vulnerable part of the population to fight, were hidden in the difficult socio-economic relations between the aristocracy and representatives of other classes. And not the last fiddle in this chaos was played by representatives of big capital, who remained in the shade.
Course of the uprising
Meanwhile, the Wat Tyler uprising in England was gaining momentum, sweeping away everything in its path. The fury was so intense that London soon felt the full force of anger. Before this, the palace of the Duke John of Kent, the de facto ruler of the country and the most hated aristocrat in the eyes of a simple people, blazed. The leader of the rebels himself forbade, under pain of death, to take at least something valuable, ordering everything to be burned. Those who disobeyed had a direct road to the bonfire. Tyler considered himself a zealot of truth and justice, a faithful servant of King Richard II.
On the afternoon of June 14, he held his famous meeting with the 14-year-old scared monarch. On behalf of the king spoke Earl of Salisbury. This pompous experienced speaker imposingly announced that taxes would be abolished and immediately shamed everyone present for inappropriate behavior. He promptly collected petitions and proposed to meet tomorrow for a more specific and substantive conversation. The rebels innocently agreed with him.
Tower Meeting
Having won the necessary respite, the king’s inner circle gathered for advice. The revolt of Wat Tyler in England came up with a bone in their throat. It was necessary to solve something in the war with France, and this requires funding. And most importantly: the protesters have already managed to break firewood by striking at the most painful place - the economic interests of the most respected people of the kingdom. Only the mayor of London, who also kept all the brothels in the city, suffered enormous losses: Tyler and his associates burned the Red Light District.
But no matter how angry they were, the king’s advisers had a clear understanding that a garrison of 500 people would not stand against the "mob", so it was decided to swear oaths to make any concessions. And the English government has traditionally always been the master of its own words: it wanted - it gave, but it took - and took it. As is customary with real gentlemen.
Suppression of rebellion
On June 15, the king and his courtiers came to meet with their opponents. He signed all the required documents and even raised the cup for new orders. However, Walter Tyler rejoiced early. The English political elite are masters of intrigue, various dramatizations and falsifications. He has already been sentenced. Suddenly, a page popped up from the crowd of courtiers, shouting that Tyler was a famous criminal in Kent. The war veteran, who led the rebels, automatically grabbed the dagger.
This is exactly what they expected from him, and then a matter of technology: Wallors - the mayor of London - was able to completely quench his thirst for revenge for the burned brothels. Two skillfully executed sword blows in the neck and head cut short the life of the worthy son of the English people, who dreamed of equality for all people on their land.
After this, the king rode up to the army of the rebels and deceived them. They were told that their beloved leader was knighted and awaited them on the field of St. John, in order to celebrate and rejoice with them the abolition of unjust taxes.
And this field was a wasteland near the city walls, where the royal mercenaries were hastily pulled together. Tyler's unsuspecting jubilant army recklessly approached the appointed place, where they were immediately surrounded by professional fighters. The massacre was brutal, even by the standards of the Middle Ages.
The Jacques and the revolt of Wat Tyler were antifeudal movements of the oppressed masses, dreaming of alleviating their own plight. All riots were sunk in the blood by the aristocracy due to poor organization. But a split in society was outlined, and then over time it only worsened, leading, in the end, to bourgeois revolutions. But that's another story.